European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group

GUE/NGL appeal for urgent action to end violence against Kurds in Turkey

13/01/2016

The European Parliament should not remain silent in the face of this violent oppression

The GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament today hosted a delegation from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) - Mr. Osman Baydemir, HDP Deputy for Şanlıurfa, and Ms Feleknas Uca, HDP Deputy for Diyarbakır, former GUE/NGL MEP - for an exchange of views on the dramatic situation of the Kurds in southeast Turkey, who are being violently oppressed by the Turkish government.

At the moment, in the southeast of Turkey, hundreds of civilians being killed, including women and children, schools are under siege, hospitals are being transformed into bunkers, systematic curfews are being imposed on towns and villages in the region and tensions are being borne by the people who fear being bombed at any moment of the day or night.

The group is launching an appeal to the whole European Parliament not to remain silent in the face of this soundless massacre of the Kurds.

The GUE/NGL group is requesting an urgent resolution on this issue for next week in Strasbourg. Our group will also send a letter to Ms Federica Mogherini so that in her capacity as the European Union's High Representative she can intervene and address an urgent call to the Turkish authorities to stop the violence against civilians. The group considers that the EU should play the role of mediator in order to bring the conflicting parties back to the negotiating table. In addition, Turkey's status as a "safe country" for refugees should also be called into question.

The group has decided to organise in the near future a delegation to go to Diyarbakır to witness the situation on the ground and calls on other groups in the European Parliament to do likewise.

GUE/NGL expresses its solidarity with the Kurdish people and with the HDP who are fighting this violent oppression on a daily basis.